Isolation
by Moon Crescent Neko
Summary: Things reach an all time peak at the Dursley residence, and when Harry doesn't show up on the 1st help is sent. Warnings: Abuse, tort, rape, etc. Not Slash, parental. Please read and review!
1. Prologue

**Isolation**

**Prologue**

Harry felt like absolute crap! Ever since he had returned to the Dursley's for the summer his relatives had been treating him worse then ever! The chores got longer and harder and the punishment for not completing them got even more pain full. At least the pain had kept the memory of his godfather falling behind the veil out of the forefront of his mind. He hasn't had relief from the pain since the first day back. But it was ok. He deserved it after all.

Not only was he in constant pain but he was also very lonely. But he deserved that too. His uncle had killed Hedwig on the third day. Said the damn thing was too noisy. Harry missed her. She was the first friend he had ever had. Remembering her made him remember that she was also the first ever real present he had gotten.

He would be 16 in two weeks. The day that he and his godfather had decided he would spend the rest of the summer with him. But that was last year. Before he had gotten his only real family member killed. He couldn't forget the moment. It plagued him while he slept. His godfather was just another name to add to the list of people he had killed. The longer he lived the longer the list got. He wished his uncle would just finally kill him.

There was a knock on the door. Oh God! His uncle was back from work! This was bad! He had accidentally broken a plate while he was making lunch for his aunt. She had gotten mad. But not just mad she had gone into a full on rage. Had thrown the pans at him. Most of them connected. Then she had forced him to clean up the mess and locked him in his room. Also known as the torture chamber to him. For him. He quickly got off of his bed and went to kneel by the door. That's how his uncle wanted him when he entered the room for his 'fun'.

The locks on the door clicked open and the door slowly creaked open to show a large bulky mass in the doorway. His uncle's face was deep purple and had a deep red line splashed across his cheeks and nose. This was even worse. Not only was his uncle extremely mad, he was also drunk on top of it. He was sooo screwed!

When ever his uncle was drunk the punishments got worse. It wasn't just hitting and yelling. Oh no, definitely not! It also included extremely painful sex. He deserved it though. He had been told since he was four not to drop any plates. He knew better but he had done it anyway. His hands had been hurting so bad that he couldn't hold the plate properly.

"YOU UNGRATFUL FREAK! HOW DARE YOU BREAK OUR BELONGINGS!" His uncle raged. Vernon backhanded the undersized boy, throwing him across the small room. The beating went on for what felt like an eternity to Harry.

When he was at the edge of the black abyss called unconsciousness his uncle threw him on the bed. Easily removing any articles of clothing, his uncle cuffed his hands to the railing of the bed.

His uncle left the room and returned a minute later with a bucket in his hands. He threw its contents on Harry before allowing the bucket to fall to the ground. Harry was immediately pulled out of the on coming darkness by the icy water that hit him. His uncle fumbled with his zipper for a minute before pulling out his erect member. He climbed on top of the bed and spread the bleeding boy's legs apart painfully.

Without any warning or preparation, the far heavier man penetrated the fragile boy under him. Vernon quickly pulled back out before slamming in again. He continued this way, enjoying the way his penis tore through the boy, and lubricated the extremely tight passage with his pre-cum and the hot blood that leaked from the tares.

The pain was too much to handle and Harry was soon consumed by the darkness, while his uncle used his body as he pleased.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When he awoke again he noticed his aunt and uncle standing over him. His uncle had a big, unmarked, white bottle in his hands, while his aunt had on her rubber cleaning gloves. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Dudley standing in the door way. He was smirking like he usually did before he brought his friends over for a little 'stress relief'.

Okay this was totally freaking him out. He was scared out of his mind. This could only mean trouble. He shifted uncomfortably and immediately regretted it. Pain pulsed through his whole body, causing him to whimper in pain. Dudley laughed at his pain.

"It's time, Freak," Vernon began with malice "that we teach you a lesson." An evil, blood-thirsty grin spread on his face. "Maybe, if we made the damage permanent, you might finally start listen to us."

Fear coursed through every bone of his body as the words registered in Harry's mind. He couldn't even imagine what they could do to him that they hadn't already done.

"Pet, hold the boy's head still."

Suddenly it all came together. The unmarked bottle. The rubber gloves. The evil grins. One by one the pieces fell together. They were going to bind him. Petunia's hands clenched tightly on his head. One on his forehead and one covering his mouth. His eyes widened and he started to thrash, and try to rip the hands off of his head. Pain spiked through his body, but he didn't care. He didn't like the idea of spending the rest of his life in the dark.

"Vernon make it quick."

"Alright. Dudley come hold his eyes open."

Dudley came toward the struggling teen. Harry quickly closed his eyes. He held them as tight as he could, however Dudley was stronger.

Vernon advanced with the bottle; screwing off the top as he went. He tipped the bottle over Harry's eyes.

The next minute Harry was in a world of pain. It was like the pain he was used to, yet it was completely different. It felt like something was eating through his eyes in the most painful way possible. A brief whiteness flashed in front of his eyes before everything went black. He felt the hands leave him and then he was consumed by nothingness.

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AN: I have writer's block for DDD, so i thought i would through this up to see what people thought. Please review!!


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

When Harry Potter didn't show up at the welcoming feast, the professors were concerned. Headmaster Dumbledore called all of the Heads of House to his office to see if anyone had heard anything from the boy or any of his friends.

Unfortunately no one seemed to have heard from him in the past month. "Severus, Minerva, I'm going to have to ask you to go to Private Drive and pick him up. He might have just missed the train and returned home."

"I don't think that's the case." Severus said, "We would have gotten an owl by now if he had just missed the train."

"I have a very bad feeling about this." Minerva added.

Both of them stood to leave, bidding their colleagues a good night. Walking quickly, they exited the giant double doors and apparated away as soon as they crossed Hogwart's gates.

A second later they reappeared in the subdivision of Little Winging in Surrey. Minerva looked up at the street sign just to the left of them. "Looks like we're already at Private Drive. All that's left is to find house number 4." They looked around at the perfect cookie cutter houses that lined the street. All the houses were the same two-story design, with neatly trimmed lawns, and perfect colorful flowers.

They walked down the street until they spotted a brass number 4 on one of the houses. There weren't any cars in the drive and all the lights were off in the house. In fact, the flower bed looked like it hadn't been taken care of for weeks. Walking up to the front door they knocked even though they doubted they would get an answer. They waited a minute and when no answer came Severus pulled out his wand and whispered an 'Alohamora'.

The lock clicked and he opened the door. The entrance was bare except for a coat rack in the corner. The two professors moved further in and noticed that all the personal items a house usually held were absent. There were several lighter colored squares on the walls were pictures used to hang. There was an eerie feel about the house. As if something unspeakable had happened here. They went up the stairs toward the bedrooms, each suppressing a shudder as some of the stairs squeaked. They looked into all the rooms and noticed that all the furniture was still in tack. The last door they came to had several locks on the outside of the door, all of which were locked.

Dread filled both of them as they stared at all the different locks. Obviously whatever was inside wasn't keeping people out, but instead was keeping it in. Minerva flicked her wrist and all the locks fell to the floor. Taking a deep breathe she put her hand to the door knob and slowly pushed it open. They stepped into the dark room and were immediately assaulted by the smells of urine, feces, blood, vomit, and worst of all stale sex.

Severus cast a lumos and the room was spilt with light. The room was bare except for a bed with a threadbare mattress and blanket. Under the blanket was a lump that could only be the missing boy wonder. Severus walked over and moved the blanket from the bed. He let it fall to the ground in shock. What he saw was worse then he could have possibly imagined. The small boy he found was completely unrecognizable from the boy they were looking for. He was small, extremely undernourished and covered in welts and filth. The worst that was immediately seeable were the boy's eyes. The skin around them were burned and covered in blood.

Severus bent down and gently picked him up. A whimper and a flinch escaped the small boy and Severus let out a sigh of relief. 'At least the boy is still alive,' he thought. He turned to leave and saw Minerva's shocked face. She let out a sob as she saw the many wounds on the small body.

They quickly apparated back to Hogwarts and ran up to the infirmary, where Madam Pomfrey could heal Harry.

Shock only crossed the matrons face for a second before she went into complete nurse mode and ordered them to set the boy down on a bed and get all the potions she would need. When they did all they could, they left the infirmary and headed to the headmaster's office.

At the news of Harry's condition the twinkle left his blue eyes and for once he looked his true age. A deep sorrow filled his eyes and the professors wondered if they would ever see his eyes hold any amount of joy again. The headmaster then asked them to lead him to the infirmary so he could see the boy himself.

A tear slid down the old man's face at the young boy—no not boy, man. "I'm so sorry Harry. I've failed you again. I should have checked on you instead of leaving you with them." He whispered. "How will you ever forgive me? How can I make it up to you?"

"Headmaster, the boy is an extremely loving and forgiving soul. He'll forgive you, but you'll have to change a little as well to regain his trust." McGonagall said, sitting on the bed next to Harry's.

The headmaster sighed and turned to Madam Pomfrey for the report. The matron took a deep breath before she started. "He's severely malnourished. He has broken bones and several of them are set wrong and will have to be re-broken before they can heal properly. His body is covered in bruises, cuts and open sores. He shows evidence of having been whipped and, unfortunately, raped too. His eyes were severely burned by a chemical and he won't be able to see again. From my readings the abuse has been going on for years, even before he came to Hogwarts I would say."

Severus and Albus sat down on the bed next to Minerva as they processed the news and tried to get over the shock. Nobody had noticed and now Harry had to pay the price for it. Severus quickly got back up and headed for the exit.

"Severus, where are you going?" Minerva asked, concern lacing her voice.

"To research and make a cure for the blindness." Severus replied shortly and left without looking back again.

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AN: Short I know but it was a good stopping point. Please Review!


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Hermione sighed as she walked beside Ron to the Great Hall for breakfast. Harry hadn't been on the train yesterday and Hermione was extremely worried. She noticed that even the teachers were worried; they had been called to the Headmasters office yesterday right after the welcoming feast to be questioned about Harry, apparently they hadn't heard from him in weeks either. Hermione sighed again and looked up at her boyfriend as he gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

As they entered the hall they both cast a quick glance around the room in hopes of spotting Harry sitting at the table waiting for them. With heavy hearts, they sat down at their spots at the Gryffindor table, nearest to the teachers.

Time seemed to pass like molasses for the rest of the day. By the time dinner finally came, Hermione thought for sure she was going to have a mental breakdown from all the worrying she was doing. A tiny bit of hope entered her heart as she noticed Professor McGonagall coming toward them.

"Ron." Hermione said, causing the red-head to stop playing with his food and look up startled. She nodded her head to the approaching professor. When the professor arrived, she looked as stern as ever, but there was a bit of sorrow and concern showing in her eyes.

"If you two would follow me." McGonagall said briskly. They followed her quietly, worry rising once again as they noted they were headed in the direction of the Hospital Wing.

The first thing they noticed was the Headmaster and resident Potions Master, Severus Snape. Dread and sorrow hung heavily in the air, threatening to crush every one by its shear force. They quickly walked over to Harry's bed and sure enough it was occupied by a familiar messy haired boy. A bandage covered his eyes, and his cheeks were sunken in. The rest of his body was covered in a blanket so they couldn't see if there were any more wounds.

Ron's arms wound themselves around Hermione's waist tightly. Hermione let out a gasp at the tightness. "Ron," she said "too tight." Ron quickly let go and turned around, his whole body shaking. Before anyone could do something Ron pulled back his arm and slammed his fist into the wall.

"Ron! You breaking your hand isn't going to solve anything!" Hermione turned to the teachers, "Just how bad is it?"

"He's extremely malnourished and dehydrated. He has lacerations covering his body, some of which have caught an infection. There's also evidence of rape." Snape told her.

"And his mind?"

"We don't know yet. He hasn't woken up." Just then there was shifting on the bed they stood next to. A whimper escaped Harry's mouth as he shifted and Hermione grabbed a hold of one of his hands.

"Shh, Harry. You're safe now. I won't let anyone hurt you anymore." Hermione said, lightly caressing his hand. The hand pulled itself out of her grasp and came up to his bandaged eyes. Hermione quickly pulled the hand back as he tried to remove the bandage. "I'm afraid your eyes are beyond repair anymore Harry. The damage was too extreme and too old also."

A choked sob escaped the small boy. Madam Pomfrey came over to the duo and flicked her wand to check how everything was healing. "Are you in pain anywhere, Harry?" She asked softly.

Harry shook his head. "No ma'am."

"You're healable injuries should be healed in a week. I'm going to have you drink a dreamless sleep potion now so your body can rest."

Harry nodded and the potion was administered. He was asleep in seconds.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Where are we going Hermione?" Ron asked as he followed his girlfriend through the halls.

"To the library of course. I want to help Professor Snape find a cure. Just sitting around isn't going to anybody any good so it's better than nothing. Ron simply sighed and quietly did as he was told. There was no use saying or doing anything else since Hermione was too stubborn to be moved when she got an idea in her head.

They stayed till just before curfew and they were chased out of the library by Madam Pince. They trekked up to Gryffindor Tower, and headed to bed after a quick good bye.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Harry woke from his dreamless sleep to the sound of someone rushing around. He tried to open his and only remembered what happened when he was unsuccessful for the third time. He cleared his throat slightly and all movement in the room stopped.

"Oh Harry, you're awake. How are you feeling dear?" Came Madam Pomphrey's voice from nearby.

"Fine, thank you Madam." Harry replied quietly. A swishing noise was heard and a weird tingling feeling spread through his body. He stiffened. "What did you do?!" He asked alarmed, panic started to run through his body.

"Calm down dear, I only cast a diagnostic spell on you. You've healed pretty well so far. The Headmaster thinks it a good idea you move in with Professor Snape, and I'd say you're well enough to be moved already." A hand touched his own and he jumped in surprise, the hand didn't move though.

"Why?" Harry asked, "He hates me, and I don't want to be a burden."

"You're no burden Harry, and Professor Snape doesn't hate you it's just a mask he keeps up." Another hand brushed through his hair causing him to jump again. "And we thought it best to be Professor Snape because he hass experience with the blind and can teach you how to live a normal life even without your sight."

"How?"

"He has a younger sister who is blind, so he'll be able to teach you brail and how to take advantage of your other sharpening senses."

"Is that why I was able to hear you moving around so well, because my senses are sharpening?"

"That's right. The professor will be here after breakfast sometime to take you to his quarters. In the mean time you can take your potions and eat breakfast."

Breakfast was a messy affair. He ended up spilling more on himself then he managed to get into his mouth. Harry sat there flushed with embarrassment after Madam cleaned him off and got him into some muggle clothes.

Harry's head whipped around towards the sound of the Hospital Wing doors opening. The soft click of shoes and the swish of clothes came nearer to Harry and he tensed in fear. The person stopped by his bed but remained silent. Harry reached out a hand and came into contact with a hard, cloth covered chest or stomach. His hand moved up, and guessing how high he had to go to reach the shoulder it was either a tall adult or an elder Weasley. He got onto his knees to continue his adventure and touched first a cloth covered neck before reaching a smooth strong jaw. He moved his hand to the side away from the direction of the mouth and up a smooth cheek and defined cheek bones. His hand moved up to the temple, briefly coming into contact with silky soft hair, and across a forehead. Finally he decided to move down again. His fingers trailed down a large nose and he froze.

He knew exactly who this was. Quickly he snatched his hand back, but only got it halfway back to himself when another hand stopped him. "It's alright." The other man said in, what could only be described as, a deep smooth voice. "What you were doing was right. You'll need to get used to it so you can be able to identify people."

"Professor Snape?" Harry asked tentivly.

"Yes?"

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"I wanted to see what you would to identify the person near you if they didn't say a word."

"But why?"

"Because being able to identify who is around you is the first step to getting used to losing your sight. That and becoming aware of your surroundings and being able to direct yourself without the help of others."

"Oh."

"Oh indeed Mr. Potter." Snape sneered. "I'll be removing your bandages and putting a burn salve on your burns and a tissue restorative in your eyes." Snape removed the bandage from Harry's eyes and lightly smeared the cold cream on and around his eyes. "Lay down Mr. Potter."

Snape pulled back the eye lids and put a dropper full into his eye. Harry jerked back and gave a shocked yell at the sudden burning in his eye. "What did you do?!"

"Calm down Potter. It only burns because it has to fix the tissue damage." Snape said not letting him get away. He quickly took care of the next eye as well. "Now close your eyes so I can put something on to seal them. I don't want anything getting in them or messing with the healing."

Harry closed his eyes and only gave a twitch as a cold paste was smeared over his eyes. "Madam Pomphrey gave you leave to go so we'll be headed to my quarters now." Harry nodded and got up from the bed. Snape took his arm and had Harry grab a hold of his before they slowly moved forward.

* * *

AN: Not as good as i would like. Hopefully the next one will be better. Hope you liked it anyway. Please review and tell me your thoughts and what you would like to see happen in this story. Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 3

**Sorry for the long wait. I finally got a good idea. It's shorter then the last but it was a good place to stop it. DDD will have to wait a little while yet, I'm still stuck on that.**

Chapter 3

The walk was excruciatingly long and slow. Harry clung to Professor Snape like his life depended on it (and it probably did in the unpredictable castle). Every few steps he would stumble; his face felt so hot from embarrassment he thought it would explode. Finally after what he thought was an eternity, Professor Snape stopped.

"We're here; put your hand on the wall so I can key you to the wards." He said with no emotion in his voice. Hesitantly, Harry removed one of his hands from his professor and moved it forward until he could touch a cold and wet wall. Something swished by his ear, followed by an odd tingling in his hand, causing him to flinch at the noise and feeling. Stone became wood under his hand and Harry wished he could have seen the transformation. The wood pulled away from his hand and he quickly dropped it, not wanting to look more like a fool then he already did.

Prof. Snape pulled Harry through the door, closing it behind him, before stepping to the side a few feet so the boy stood alone. "The kitchen is directly to the right of you. You are not to go in there on your own until I'm sure you won't injure yourself." Snape began to explain. "It has a breakfast nook which separates it from the rest of the living room. Directly in line with the nook is the dining table; there are five feet between the two." Harry nodded in understanding. "Ten feet further back is the couch surrounded on both sides by armchairs. In the center is a coffee table and six feet from that is the fireplace. To the left are three doors, the fist is my potions lab, which is off limits to you, there are too many toxic ingredients in there. The second is your room, accommodated with a bed, wardrobe, desk, and in suite bathroom. The final door is my bedroom, you are only allowed in there in case of emergency, and only then when I'm in there. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir." Harry answered quietly.

"To the right are two more doors. The first is our study; your desk is located to the right. The second is the Library. You're allowed in both whenever you feel like it." With that, Snape left him alone to explore his new home in peace.

Harry's room was set up very simple; the bed was directly across from the door, up against the wall, with a night stand on the right side. A desk stood under the magic window to the right; how he knew it was a magic window, he couldn't tell you, but it had a sort of tingly feel to it. To the left stood a wardrobe and a door, which led into a simple bathroom.

When he was done with his tour of the room, he plopped himself down on the bed in exhaustion and let sleep lay claim to him.

* * *

_Bright lights flashed across the night sky, hitting objects, people and animals. Screams echoed through the crisp fall air, sending a chill down Harry's back. Tall figures dressed in black cloaks held the wands creating the colorful lights towards helpless families, who huddled together or screamed and thrashed around on the ground. Buildings burned as smoke rose into the air, taking the scent of death with it to spread through and passed the small village._

* * *

"Aaah!" Harry bolted up in his bed, sweat plastering his hair to his forhead and running down his back, making his shirt cling to him uncomfortably. He thrashed around and screamed again as a set of hands grabbed a hold of him.

"Calm down, Potter. It was just a bad dream." A voice said off to his right. He knew that voice though, it was Professor Snape, come to his rescue again. With a strangled sob, Harry threw himself at his professor and buried his head into the man's strong chest.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Snape asked, surprise evident in his voice, as he brought his arms around the shaking teen. He received a mumbled reply about 'eaters, kill, and people'. Gently, Snape pulled Harry from his chest. "Say that again."

"The D-death Eat-ters were k-killing people in a v-village somew-where." Harry repeated through his hiccupping sobs.

"It was probably just a nightmare, Potter. The Death Eaters haven't been active since you defeated the Dark Lord at the Ministry this past June." Snape said in a soothing voice as he rubbed the frightened teens back. Harry nodded. "Well let's go eat lunch, Potter." Snape pulled Harry off the bed, and went ahead to allow him to move at his own pace.

* * *

Lunch was a messy affair. After Snape explained that his food would always be placed to correlate with the face of a clock, in this case: chicken at 9 o'clock, veggies at 5 o'clock, and roll at 1 o'clock, Harry slowly worked his way through the meal. It wasn't as messy as breakfast, but Harry could still feel the heat in his cheeks.

After getting himself cleaned up, Harry joined Professor Snape on the couch for his first lesson on Braille. He found himself absalutley fascinated by the patterns of the raised dots and took to the lesson easily and quickly. He went over 'A' through 'H' over and over until he was certain he had memorized them. At the end of the lesson, when Snape tested him on the first few letters, Harry could proudly say he had gotten them all right. Even Snape was surprised by how easily Harry took to learning the new language.

A soft knock broke through the silence that had descended between the two after the lesson. Harry heard the swish of Professor Snape's robes and the almost inaudible click of his boots as he moved to answer the door. He tuned out what was happening at the door as he went over the eight sets of dots on the first page of the Braille learning book.

The sound of three sets of footsteps approaching pulled him from his studying. "Your friends are here." Snape stated before taking his seat again.

"Hi Harry." Hermione's soft voice said from over his left shoulder.

"Hey Mate." Ron's slightly rough voice said from just to the right of Hermione's.

"Hi." Harry replied softly. "You can sit if you want, it might not be as akward as standing." His friends laughed softly as he heard them move to sit on either side of him. "How were classes?"

"Terrible!" Ron groaned from his right. " We got a boat load of homework, and the new Defense teacher is a complete idiot. He's almost, just like Lockhart."

"He's not that bad Ronald. And of course we have a lot of homework, N.E.W.T.S are next year." Hermione admonished softly.

"I heard next year's load is supposed to be twice as bad as this year." Harry supplied, smiling as Ron groaned.

"I took notes for you Harry, so you don't fall behind. I even translated them into Braille already form a spell I found in the Library." Russling papers to his left told him that Hermione was pulling the translated notes from her book bag.

"Good," Harry said happily, "I might be able to read it by next week."

"Already?" Ron asked, astonishment clear in his voice.

"I already memorized the first eight letters." Harry gave a startled cry as Hermione threw her arms around him.

"Oh Harry, I'm so proud of you." Harry felt his blood rush to his cheeks. "Maybe I should learn too, then we can write to each other without any of the other students knowing what we're saying. What do you think Ron?"

"Sure," Ron said, dreading learning something else on top of the course work he already had.

They talked until Professor Snape ushered Ron and Hermione out for dinner.


End file.
